James Cracknell doesn't have much faith in his dance capabilities – but he's hoping he can Waltz his way to week number four of Strictly Come Dancing. The double-Olympic gold medallist has a very touching reason why he has given himself such a specific timeframe – it's his eldest child's 16th birthday! James is hoping that if he makes it that far into the competition then his son Croyde will come and watch him perform from the studio audience.
Claiming that some of his family, including new girlfriend Jordan Connell, don't expect him to survive past week one, James told HELLO! and other reporters his hopes of making it at least one month in the show. He said ahead of Saturday's launch show: "My girlfriend has gone 'well, I would ask for a ticket but you won't be in long enough!' That's what the assumption is. So folks will go and watch week one, but… my oldest is sixteen on the fourth week and you have to be sixteen to go so it's a kind of – it would be nice."
© Photo: BBCJames is hoping to make it to at lease week four
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The 47-year-old confirmed his new romance in August after he and Jordan were spotted kissing during a romantic stroll through London's Battersea Park. The couple met when he enrolled as a mature student at Cambridge University in 2018. Jordan was a finance student at the prestigious university and according to The Daily Mail is also part of a cheerleading team in her native New York; we're sure she'll be great on the Strictly sidelines!
© Photo: Getty ImagesJames is loved-up with new girlfriend Jordan
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Their PDA came just one month after James and his ex-wife Beverley Turner confirmed their split after 17 years of marriage. Speaking of his new relationship, James told The Mail On Sunday: "It's a definite new chapter in my life. It's great with Jordan. I was lucky at Cambridge to have met lots of people I wouldn't usually have met but I didn't think for one second one would end up becoming my girlfriend."
He added: "What I found really refreshing is that because Jordan is from New York, she had no perception of rowing. She knew nothing about it. She treated me as I was. She had no knowledge of me or anything I had been through over the past eight years – though she quickly learned I am rubbish at answering my phone. It is really fun being with Jordan and I feel very lucky."
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